Winter Woes
by TeamChaosPrez
Summary: In the dead of December, Mabel experiences a relapse of a deep sadness she thought she'd left behind. {Sequel to Came Close and What Happened. MaBill. Rated T for self-harm.}


_This one is inspired by the song "Winter Song" by Ronan Keating. I dunno if it's more sad or fluffy but WELL IT'S A THING OKAY ENJOY IT. MaBill. Takes place a little over three months after Came Close and What Happened. Rated T for self harm._

Mabel stared out the window, watching the snowflakes fall and gather in a fine white powder over the thicker layers of white. It had been snowing almost consistently since mid-November, and being stuck in the drafty Shack was starting to wear on her spirits. It always depressed her that nothing could grow beneath the suffocating winter snow, that the world was purely cold and still. She pressed her warm hand to the cold glass and watched as her breath slowly fogged up the window before wiping the condensation away with her sweater sleeve.

Typically, the combined facts of winter break plus Christmas being just a few days away would've been a major pick-me-up for the adolescent, but given recent events and the disappearance of the demon she'd come to consider a close friend – and developed feelings of the romantic nature for, not that she'd ever admit it – she was starting to fall back into a funk as she looked out at the snow-choked forest.

"Hey Mabel," her twin brother, Dipper, announced with his mouth full, climbing up the stairs to the attic. "Did you know that Soos can make some seriously good sugar cookies? Seriously, they're awesome. I think they're just a Christmas thing tho-," he was cut off by the look on his sister's face. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Mabel responded. "Just . . . I guess the snow is kind of depressing is all."

She gently traced the scars on her arms with the tip of her index finger.

"Come on, Mabel, you love the snow." Dipper responded worriedly, approaching the older twin.

"This year, I just don't know."

"You're not... falling back into that, are you?"

"No!" Mabel declared, spinning around to face the male twin. "I'm perfectly happy! As happy as happy can be!" She immediately put on a huge fake smile.

Dipper examined his sister for close to a whole minute before shrugging and going back towards the stairs. "Well, if you do, I have permission to disown you." _Not that I ever will, _he added silently. "Come down and have a few cookies, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay. In a few minutes."

The younger twin disappeared down the stairs and Mabel returned to staring out the window. She didn't even notice that she wasn't alone until a very familiar voice declared, "Hey there, Shooting Star."

Mabel whirled around, her heart thudding in her chest, and exhaled in relief when she noticed it was only her demonic friend in his human teenager disguise. Bill Cipher smirked at her, straightening his Deathly Hallows sweatshirt.

"Hi, Bill." She responded, an actual genuine smile starting to appear on her face.

"What's got ya down, kid?" He asked, walking over and joining her at the window, watching the snow fall with a small frown on his face. Because Bill operated on fire and had a high body temperature, he didn't care much for the cold.

"I dunno. I guess I don't like the winter all that much." The teen replied.

"Come on, there are snowmen and snowball fights and the human tradition that is Christmas... I'd pegged you for the sort of girl that would like all that stuff." The dream demon looked at his friend – and crush, not that he'd ever admit it – up and down with a concerned look.

"I usually do." Mabel replied. "Just... feeling down today, I guess."

Some snorting brought the attention to both of them as Waddles the Pig waddled up to the pair and started chewing on Bill's pant leg. Mabel picked the pig up and squeezed him tightly.

"Is there anything I can do about it?" The blond finally spoke.

"I don't think so, Torbilla Chip. I can just wait it out, I guess."

"Don't call me that." The demon responded half-heartedly, watching the snow fall and trying to think of a pick-me-up to yank the girl out of whatever funk she was entering to make sure there wasn't a repeat of that early September night.

"I'll be back later." He suddenly announced, disappearing in a bright flash.

"Okay . . ." Mabel murmured as she watched him go, a little bit hurt that he hadn't stuck around longer. She bit her lip a moment and grabbed the heavy pink coat that hung by the door, walking downstairs.

"I'm going for a walk." She announced, grabbing a few sugar cookies off the counter.

"Alright, be back soon." Grunkle Stanford Pines replied, counting the day's precious profits over and over despite the fact that not many tourists came wandering to the Mystery Shack during the winter season. Mabel half suspected he went into the money stores just for the satisfaction of seeing and counting the green stuff.

The adolescent pulled the coat on over her sweater, walking outside and watching her breath appear in the cold air. After a while, she found her way to a clearing in the forest and sat, pulling her sleeve down and yanking one of her particularly sharp sewing needles from a pocket.

_Woah, woah, girl. Not so fast. You promised, Mabel. You promised._

She ignored her conscience, pressing the fine tip of the needle into the soft skin of her forearm, watching as fine scarlet blood came from the line she created. She tipped her arm upside down, watching the crimson drip down onto the virgin snow, barely flinching at the pain.

No sooner had three drops of blood dripped to the ground than the teen was suddenly aware of cold on her face, wet snow dripping off of her features.

She'd just been assaulted by a snowball.

"_What the hell, Shooting Star?_" She heard a furious voice yell, and suddenly Bill was in front of her. He grabbed her by the collar of her coat and she was met by the angry face of a dream demon. His skin was starting to darken, his eye already reversed in color and dark red splotches starting to appear in his hair and clothes.

Terror set in fairly quickly, and Mabel began trying to pry herself free. "Bill! Let go, you're scaring me!"

"_You promised you'd never do that again!_" The demon growled in a slightly changed voice. Mabel had never seen him so angry, not even when she knocked the ever-so-important door from his hands in Stan's mind. Her color had paled.

"I-I'm sorry!" She managed to choke out.

"_All you care about is how you feel! You don't bother to think of the people that you're hurting by causing damage to yourself! You never stop and think, _hm, who might be hurt by my actions, _no! You just go right ahead and carve yourself like a chicken because you're feeling down in the dumps!_"

Mabel made a whiny sound and tried to pull away. "Bill, I-I'm sorry, let me go!"

"_What's the point in loving you if I'm just going to lose you to something you refuse to fight?_"

She froze, stopped struggling with her hands over his. "Wh-what?"

The demon dropped her into the soft snow and, trying to hide his embarrassment and hurt, just said, "You know what, forget it. Forget I said anything. Goodbye, Mabel Pines. Stay beautiful."

He shifted to triangulum form and zoomed off, disappearing shortly after he entered the treeline.

"Bill, wait!" Mabel screeched, running after him and, knowing he was gone, standing exactly where her friend had been just minutes ago. "Come back! Please!" She yelled at the open air.

"BIIIIIILLLLLLLLLL!" She wailed again, and when met with silence, she collapsed to her knees.

"I love you too," she managed to rasp quietly before breaking down in sobs.

* * *

Mabel did not return to the Shack until several hours later. She was soaking wet, tear-stained, and sneezing. She avoided any and all questions about where she had been, making a beeline for the spare room and peeling herself from her wet clothing to put on a dry pair of pajamas. She wasn't up for spending time with anyone, even with her brother.

She laid down in the bed, repeating to herself over and over that she had blown it and she didn't deserve to have someone as caring and powerful as Bill in the first place. Reminding herself that he had liked her back and they may have had something more than the close friendship had she not done the deed she had accomplished tonight.

The teen cried herself to sleep that night, only to be awakened by someone slightly bigger and significantly warmer wrapping his arms around her and pressing her to his body. She tensed up, sure that there was some unknown intruder and she was trapped because she had locked the door and didn't have enough time to unlock it and escape.

Acting on an impulse, she jabbed her sewing needle into the intruder's gut and got up, sprinting for the door as he cried out a little. She swiftly unlocked the door and in the light of the hallway saw that the small amount of blood that had come off on her arm wasn't a humanly red.

No, it was silver.

Incredulously, she turned back to the room to see an achingly familiar figure painfully pulling the thin needle from between a couple of his ribs.

"Bill!" She declared, tackle-hugging the demon so hard that it sent him slamming into the wall.

"Woah. Calm down a little, Shooting Star." He laughed slightly, pulling her off a little and looking her seriously in the eyes. "Are you... okay?"

"I am now." She replied. "And I have something to tell you."

She could practically feel him blush under her grip.

"Look, just forget I said-"

"No. I want to say I love you too."

She gave him a quick kiss on the lips, amused as his face turned to the color of a cherry. An awkward silence followed before he put a hand on the side of her face and gave her a more passionate kiss, smirking when she moaned a little and both of them sighing heavily when they broke apart.

"So, uh... does this mean we're a thing now?" Mabel asked.

Bill smiled a little and rolled his eyes. "Better change your relationship status on Facebook if you still use it, Shooting Star."

She squealed happily and hugged the demon tightly, who rolled his eyes and gently petted her hair. "You'd better get some sleep. I'll make sure your dreams are sweet." He led her over to the bed and gently laid her down, tucking her in.

"Okay." She yawned, slowly falling into the deep abyss of sleep.


End file.
